Character Style and Irony

3.3 Character

The author writes Rumanti, a simple Javanese woman, as the main character of Perempuan Jogja. He writes Rumanti with her beautiful manner and appearance. She is also described as a strong woman who maintains her dignity as a traditional Javanese woman. “Dik Indri harus memahami Mbak Rum. Pengabdian kepada suami bagi perempuan seperti Mbak, bukan saja kewajiban tetapi juga keharusan. Dari pengabdian itu tumbuh kesetiaan”Munif, 21. The narration tells about Rumanti’s tolerance to her husband: she tries to explain her condition to Indri. She emphasizes, for a Javanese woman just like her, a dedication to her husband is a must. She believes that through dedication faithfulness rises. Rumanti is described as an obedient Javanese woman through her character. The author tells the characteristic of a Javanese woman who is usually considered as old fashioned woman and second priority to a man. Rumanti can be classified as a flat character because she does not make any specific changes in the whole story. It would be more interesting if Rumanti showed her emotion—what she feels and what she expects. Rumanti is just a simple Javanese woman. She is characterized as a plain woman who follows her husband’s rules without any willingness to protest him even though she is treated inappropriately. Moreover, she is also characterized as a strong woman who is patient to face her husband’s betrayal. Furthermore she is characterized as a humble and obedient woman. Rumanti however holds the character traits tightly in herself.

3.4 Style and Irony

The author writes the story using style and irony. He intends to write with different style and irony to get many kinds of sensation. The style which is used in the story and also the ironic scene of the novel may be illustrated in the following narration “ Ora perlu dirasakno toh, nduk. Sudah belasan tahun kamu hidup senang bersama Raden Mas Danu. Kamu harus menyadari suamimu kaya tampan, dan punya kedudukan Munif, 101. The narration tells about the condition of Rumanti’s family. Rumanti’s mother asks her to be patient to face her husband’s second marriage. She also tells Rumanti that she does not need to be sad but she wants Rumanti to be strong and to be grateful for her current marriage. Rumanti’s mother thinks Rumanti is still lucky since Danu always fulfills everything she needs. The author occasionally uses Javanese language in this point of story. He tries to describe how Javanese family in Rumanti’s house communicates. The author does not eliminate Javanese language as the identity of Javanese people. He uses Javanese utterances to say something in certain situation; it automatically helps the reader’s context to form Javanese people intimacy through Javanese language. Moreover, the author’s diction is also important to give a twist effect to the readers. “ Aku kasian. Mbak Rum selama bertahun-tahun mengabdi kepada Mas Danu. Apakah adil kalau kemudian Mas Danu bercintaan kembali dengan bekas pacarnya? Tidak adil mbak, tidak adil sama sekali, mbak tahu siapa Norma itu. Perempuan itu pernah membuat Mas Danu frustasi dan hampir gendheng, karena ditinggal kawin dengan orang lain. Lha kok sekarang, ia kembali kepada Mas Danu. Punya malu nggak sih perempuan itu? Ini sunggu tidak adil bagi Mbak Rum. Lalu bagaimana Mas Danu mengawini perempuan itu. Itulah yang saya khawatirkan mbak” Munif, 20. Indri Astuti is disappointed of Danu’s decision. She is completely fed up when Danu wants to marry another woman. She cannot imagine why Danu does that to Rumanti. Whereas Rumanti is known as an obedience and faithful wife who is patiently taking care of her husband and her family. In fact, Danu still stands up his principle to marry Norma, a woman who one abandoned him away and made him frustrated. The irony of the novel arises in the above narration. A dozen years of Rumanti’s dedication and faithfulness to her husband results in betrayal. Rumanti’s dedication should be rewarded with love and care. Otherwise, she gets miserable treatment from her husband. In this narration author’s diction also can be seen. Gendheng is a Javanese language; it means crazy, but to give special effect to the readers, the author prefers to use the word gendheng. This gendheng utterance delivered by Indri Astuti to show her boredom and her disappointment of Danu’s decision. It gives different sensation to the readers than the plain ‘crazy’ word. “ Di luar, cahaya keemasan matahari sudah sirna dan senjapun berubah menjadi temaram. Angina menggoyang ranting-ranting dan mengelus daun-daun menimbulkan suara gemerisik. Ramadan menutup jendela kamar karna diluar sana sudah tidak ada Rumanti – yang kata Gilang hari itu diciptakan Tuhan hanya untuknya. Ramadan tersenyum sendiri” Munif, 5. The narration tells the atmosphere of the afternoon after Ramadan enjoys Rumanti’s activity. In the narration, the author describes how the color of the sky turns from blue to gold orange which is signed as the end of the twilight. He also tells how the wind swings branches of leaves. Ramadan then smiling, he remembers the figures of Rumanti whom he admires. Since the author is a journalist, he uses imagery in order to evoke the reader’s imagination. The readers do not only read verbally the story but they also imagine the situation; they can feel the story as though they became a part of the story. By reading the detailed description which is written by the author, they can feel what exactly Rumanti’s feeling. It is one of good effects of literariness; it tells something in detailed and sharp narration for a vivid presentation, which takes the readers to come into the story and become a reflection for them.

3.5 Symbolism